Manage cravings with patches, gum and other nicotine replacement therapies(3)

Those who use stop smoking aids and who get face-to-face support are 4 times more likely to quit smoking successfully.

The overarching objective is to trigger significant numbers of quit attempts by increasing motivation to quit and providing products to make this quitting easier.(1)

The battle against smoking is far from over.It is still the country’s biggest killer causing 79,000 deaths a year.For every death, another 20 smokers are suffering from a smoking-related disease.Professor Gina Radford | Deputy Chief Medical Officer (2017) (4)

According to the British Lung Foundation stopping smoking is the best thing we can do for our own health and the health of people around us.It is never too late to quit and the benefits are immediate, not just our health but our finances too.(5)

Investing the money spent on cigarettes into stock markets could accrue £59,645 over 20 years if Stoptober is used to quit smoking altogether.(6)

Alongside an unhealthy diet, smoking is the biggest cause of preventable early death in England.Professor Kevin Fenton | National Director of Health and Wellbeing | PHE 2016

Quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart health.Coronary Heart Disease is the UK’s single biggest killer and by giving up smoking you will be dramatically reducing your chances of having a potentially deadly heart attack or stroke.Dr. Mike Knapton | Associate Medical Director | British Heart Foundation 2016 (7)

GLOBAL

Smoking is one of the leading risk factors for premature death and disability.Lim et al., 2012; World Health Organization, 2012 (2)

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems

The following information is from the World Health Organization

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) are devices which heat a solution (e-liquid) to create an aerosol which is then inhaled by the user.

They vary in ways in which they produce toxicants and deliver nicotine due to differences in design, battery voltage, unit circuitry, possibilities for modifications and adaptability for use with substances other than nicotine.

Sales for ENDS have increased rapidly since their introduction in 2012

US$ 26.84 billion market projection by 2023

The use of products containing nicotine in any form among Youth and pregnant women, including ENDS is unsafe.

For all ENDS users, the aerosol inhaled contains toxic substances that may increase the risk of Cancer or cardiovascular or pulmonary disease.

Inhaling the aerosol exhaled by ENDS users increases exposure of non-smokers and bystanders to nicotine and a number of toxicants over existing background levels. (8)

Nicotine is addictive and ENDS use could lead people, particularly young people to take up more harmful forms of tobacco consumption.

Existing evidence shows that ENDS aerosol is not merely “water vapour” as is often claimed in the marketing for these products.(9)

Tobacco users need help to quit

Studies show that few people understand the specific health risks of Tobacco use. (8)

HELLO

As we all like proof – we have studies confirming that only a few of us actually understand the specific health risks of Tobacco use.

Simple Living Global is on the front foot and has taken the steps needed so that clear information can be presented without any bias about the REAL TRUTH ABOUT TOBACCO.

Our 3 part book is on this website and ready to publish in print with all the stats and facts needed to educate and bring awareness about this toxic substance that we all know is not for human consumption in any form.

For those who are currently using Tobacco, this book presents some important Questions to consider as this is needed if we are to ever get to the root cause, so that we never go back to it in years to come.

Counselling and medication can more than double a tobacco user’s chance of successful quitting.

National comprehensive cessation services with full or partial cost-coverage are available to assist tobacco users to quit in only 23 countries, which represents 32% of the world’s population.

Mass media campaigns can reduce demand for Tobacco1 by promoting the protection of non-smokers and by convincing people to stop using Tobacco3(8)

Tobacco is inherently toxic and contains carcinogens even in its natural form. (8)

Hello

Does this sentence tell us everything we need to know?

In other words, Tobacco is not for human consumption

The World Health Organization considers that ALL forms of Tobacco use are harmful including Heated Tobacco Products. (8)

Our World Health Organization is telling us something important here for us all to pay attention.

ALL FORMS OF TOBACCO ARE HARMFUL.

So WHY is the world not united on this and doing something about it?

WHY is the World Health Organization not on the front foot and putting a stop to this substance once and for all?

WHY are we allowing people to have access to Tobacco under the banner of Free Will and a licence to do what we want because we can?

1.1 billion smokers worldwide

Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year(8)

Cancer Research UK states that the 1 billion statistic ‘is an underestimate of total tobacco exposure worldwide as it does not include childhood smoking, smokeless tobacco or second-hand smoke’.(16)

Note – the above statistic does not include childhood smoking

So what is the real figure and can we admit we have not been great role models if our kids are using Tobacco?

The Tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced.

The burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest in low and middle income countries.

Tobacco use contributes to poverty by diverting household spending from basic needs such as food and shelter to Tobacco.

The spending behaviour is difficult to curb because Tobacco is so addictive.

The economic costs of Tobacco use are substantial as well as the lost human capital that results from Tobacco-attributable morbidity and mortality.

In some countries, children from poor households are employed in Tobacco farming to boost family income. These children are especially vulnerable to “green tobacco sickness” which is caused by the nicotine that is absorbed through the skin from the handling of wet Tobacco1 leaves.(8)

Dear World

How have we got to the point where a lifestyle choice is one of the biggest public health threats in our world today?

WHY have we endorsed this poison for over a century and WHY are we not all in agreement with a total ban on smoking?

Do we care enough about children sent out to work and subjected to green tobacco sickness?

WHY do we have such utter disregard for the human body that we are willing to continue smoking?

WHY does our mind have its own agenda running the show which has no respect for the human frame when it is smoking?

7,000 chemicals found in Tobacco smoke

250 known to be harmful

69 known to cause cancer(8)

100 million deaths worldwide caused by Tobacco use in 20th century

1 billion deaths in 21st century if current trends continue (16)

Even if there was one known chemical in Tobacco found to be harm-full to the human body – is that not enough?

We have 250 chemicals and yet we continue to produce and supply

Let us not Blame the companies making vast profits on products that are literally killing us.

If we the customer stopped using tobacco – there would be no demand and so the suppliers would not have a Business. Full stop. The End.

While we are being told things will get worse and 1 billion people will die this century because of Tobacco – let us not be Fooled.

We are the consumers and it is up to each and every one of us to make changes that stop harming our body.

What will it take to turn the tides and are we ready?

There are immediate and long-term health benefits in quitting smoking for all Tobacco users.

We will not reach global targets to reduce Tobacco use and related deaths if we do not help people to quit now.
World Health Organization (9)

Cessation Support Helps Tobacco Users to Quit

Nicotine is a pharmacologically active drug that naturally occurs in the Tobacco plant and is highly addictive. It is delivered rapidly to the brain following inhalation or ingestion of Tobacco1 products or the use of non-Tobacco2 products that contain nicotine.(9)

So here is a fact – nicotine is found in Tobacco and it is highly addictive.

This poison goes straight to the brain and alters our natural state.

If something is highly addictive, does it explain why many who try to quit simply cannot do so despite all their efforts?

Could it be possible that sheer will is not enough when it comes to cessation forever, because we need to get to the root cause of why we started smoking in the first place?

15 years after quitting smokingRisk of coronary heart disease is that of a person who never smoked(9)

It is clear from the above that our body is quick to make changes to reverse the harm caused but are we certain we have not replaced one bad habit with another?

NEXT

We have many self-help tips out there telling us stuff but it may not be enough or if we do apply it, there is a strong chance it will not continue.

Example – thinking positive may be just head talk for us and our thoughts may feel like they are not even us.

Our good intentions, promises and plans with affirmations may all sound great but because true actions speak louder than words, this may not cut it and knock out our ill behaviour patterns.

Whilst the healthy approach is easier said than done, we need to get Real and feel what is possible.

Trying to change our diet and drinking habits all at the same time may be too much, so a wise move could be simply doing one thing at a time and appreciating any changes that are made along the way and building on from that…

Read up on the facts and the stats – check out the full 3 part series on this website THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT TOBACCO

Then re-read and this time around what if we answer the Questions that have been presented and see where it leads to…

Scientific studies(17)tell us that exercise cuts cravings so this is worth considering even if it simply starts with a 10 minute walk.

Whilst we all know it is not easy to give up something that is highly addictive – it would be wise to consider all the Solutions that are on offer.

Many of us know people who give up smoking and then move on to nicotine lozenges and are still taking them 10 years later.

So if we are being Honest – is that really quitting or is it a band aid job?

Are we ready to admit SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT and it may have started way way back in our teens when we first took the false breath of a ciggie instead of breathing our own breath?

We have a responsibility to knock this ill habit out and Real education can bring a level of understanding to get us on our way.

However, we do need to commit to being Honest and asking Questions like ‘what on earth happened and why’?

If we do not get to the root cause of WHY we started smoking in the first place, there could be a danger of replacing one ill behaviour for another and then banging on about how great we did as we gave up smoking but instead we took on 2 more habits that are just as bad.

NEXT

We all know that the 10th month in the year may not be the answer to quitting for life when it comes to smoking.

We have to be ready, committed and willing to look at more than just the ra ra of jumping on the bandwagon for a month, thinking we can do that.

A step by step steady and sensible approach may be a wise choice and we could include looking at when we smoke and asking the WHY Questions and keep asking WHY until we get some answers.

ADD to that a daily dose of good medicine called Honesty and chances are we are on our way to quitting.

The most important thing is to not be Fooled by our mind or by anything out there in the world.

We need to learn to re-connect first – in other words Plug In to our own body and then feel what the next step is.

This is not a race and this is not for everyone.

Those of us who are free of any form of Tobacco have a responsibility to support others and this website is doing exactly that.

Comments 4

I smoked for over 30 years, having started at the age of 15. I have stopped smoking but I am still addicted to nicotine and I use nicotine lozenges to address the cravings.

So, although I have stopped smoking cigarettes, I don’t feel that I have really, because I am still reliant on the frequent and regular use of a form of nicotine to get through the day.

I would very much like to stop using nicotine lozenges, so I am glad to read this blog today and look at why I have this addiction issue through the use of the author’s suggested question: “What on earth happened and why?”

So, I ask myself, what on earth happened to me at around the age of 15 and why did I start smoking then?

The answer that comes to me is that I found being a teenager very difficult and seeking intellectual answers to all the questions and issues I had left me feeling clueless, lost and with an emptiness inside. Smoking cigarettes seemed to fix all this to some degree at the time, because the inhalation of smoke seemed to momentarily fill that inner emptiness and the act of drawing on the cigarette served to suck in my issues, suppressing and burying them.

Of course, the cigarette smoking only seemed to be the answer when I was a teenager and was, in truth, far from that.

What I was really seeking at the time, if only I had known it then, was to breathe my own breath and to fill that sense of emptiness I had with connection to my real inner self.

Bringing it back to the present day, if smoking cigarettes served as a terrible, mistaken proxy for true connection to my real self when I was a teenager, why do I use nicotine lozenges today?

Perhaps the answer to this is that I am not in connection to my real inner self all the time and it is in those moments when I am in dis-connection that the thought comes to me to pop another nicotine lozenge in my mouth.

As mentioned in my earlier comment above, I have stopped smoking after having been a smoker for approximately 30 years. As I say above, although I no longer smoke, I am still addicted to nicotine and use nicotine lozenges to appease cravings for nicotine.

An extraordinary thing happened to me the other day.

I met a friend who on meeting me, asked if I had been smoking because I smelt strongly of cigarettes. I said, truthfully, that I hadn’t but I had been using nicotine lozenges.

Admittedly, my friend has a strong sense of smell but, the question is, how on earth could I smell of cigarettes when I had not smoked for over a year nor had I been in a smoky environment prior to meeting my friend?

Could it be that using nicotine lozenges is really no different from smoking and nicotine lozenges somehow produce the same effects in my body as smoking cigarettes?

Could it be that using nicotine lozenges and smoking cigarettes are like two different flavours of ice cream – tasting different but ultimately the same thing?

I stopped smoking over 25 years ago, so I feel very confident that there are no residues of my smoking days left in my body.

When I did smoke I never used to smoke that much. I was never a heavy smoker so I always told myself that I didn’t have a problem, but in truth, it doesn’t matter how much tobacco I consumed I was still knowingly putting a poison into my body and justifying it by telling myself I smoke because I enjoy it, but the truth was, I didn’t enjoy it.

I didn’t enjoy the taste it left in my mouth, I didn’t enjoy the smell on my fingers, I didn’t enjoy the smell on my clothes and I didn’t enjoy the way I felt when I woke up in the morning.

The truth is I smoked because I needed it – I know now that I used it to fill something up in me that was missing from my life and the act of smoking, inhaling that smoke deep in to my lungs, was giving me a relief.

Once we start smoking, most of us become addicted to the nicotine and find it very hard to stop.

The dictionary definition of being addicted is to be – physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance – and as this blog rightly points out, “If something is highly addictive, does it explain why many who try to quit simply cannot do so despite all their efforts?”

Whether we have been a lifelong smoker or have recently started, we are going to find it very difficult to give up.

It has been known for a long time now that the tobacco industry have known about the harm-full effects of tobacco use and hid it, very successfully whilst making billions in profit from humanity’s suffering.

Although Public Health England runs a campaign to stop smoking for one month of the year, is that really sufficient to get that message across?

Shouldn’t we be having every month as a STOP month?

Of course, we are only going to stop smoking if we truly want to stop. If we don’t want to stop, then no amount of STOP months are going to get us there.

If that is the case then we need to be honest with ourselves. Every child in this world knows that smoking is no good for us, but as adults we ignore this, so is it possible that our first step is to admit to ourselves that we need the tobacco and then maybe we can start to ask WHY do I need it?

A large survey showed an estimated 3.6 million people in the UK currently used vaping devices compared with 3.2 million last year.

This was up from an estimated 1.3 million people in 2003.

The peak age range for current e-cigarette use is 35 to 44 year-olds, followed by 45 to 54 year-olds and then 25 to 34 year-olds. The lowest rate was for those aged 18 to 24 followed by those over 55.

The charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), which carried out the research, said the number of vape users was half the 7.2 million smokers in the UK in 2018.

A poll of more than 12,000 adults suggested the proportion of vapers who were ex-smokers continued to grow, reaching 54.1% this year.

The reasons they gave for smoking were to help them quit, to prevent relapse back to smoking, enjoying vaping and saving money.

According to the last paragraph, the main reasons why people go on to vaping are to help them quit and to prevent a relapse back to smoking.

To me this doesn’t make sense. The addictive ingredient in cigarettes is nicotine. That same addictive ingredient is in e-cigarettes.

If we want to quit or stop ourselves going back to cigarettes, wouldn’t we need to stop consuming nicotine, the main ingredient that is keeping us hooked on cigarettes?

There seems to be no point in changing one mode of getting nicotine into the body for another mode.

With all of the deaths related to vaping and the negative publicity surrounding the use of e-cigarettes, I don’t feel that having one month of the year dedicated to getting people to stop smoking is anywhere near what is truly required.

Is it possible that, unless we get to the root cause of why we need to put poisonous substances in our bodies, we will never make any true progress in the cessation of this very harm-full, socially accepted norm?